I just came across this vid in one of my YouTube trawls and thought I'd share here. The harp player is from Mexico (although this concert was apparently in Barcelona), and he goes by the name "MrBluesRooster" on YouTube. Turns out, I had originally seen some of his other YouTube stuff (beatbox harmonica stuff) over a year ago, and had had a pleasant exchange with him. If you dig this music as much as I did, leave him some feedback on his channel, I'm sure he'd appreciate it!
Some interesting ideas for harp with this style of music. Especially with an accordian, which is very similarly voiced. (Still in shock from when the male drummer stands up around 4 minutes in to play fiddle. Cripes, he must be 6'5" at least.) Hummm...MrBluesMoose. Has possibilities. ---------- MBH Webbrain - a GUI guide to Adam's Youtube vids FerretCat Webbrain - Jason Ricci's vids (by hair colour!)
Last Edited by on Feb 01, 2013 3:51 PM
Thanks. Cool stuff. If you see any moe reggae harp action please post up. Or any suggestions for albums with harp reggae please share and I will get the albums.
Traditional Reggae tends to make use of the melodica more than the harp ( think, Augustus Pablo, Heptones etc.) I'd call this clip more of a fusion world music thing than reggae but the labeling stuff thing kinda sux.
I had a reggae radio show in New Jersey back in the 80's and lived quite a bit in Jamaica. The reason the melodica is instrument of choice is because thats what school kids learned in music class just like in the US kids often play recorder or flute. Its a very familiar instrument in Jamaica and there are quite a few good players
Augustus Pablo was the maestro. He passed a few years back of a nerve disorder-but left lots of beautiful sounds-also hear that beautiful bass drum thump on the 3 with the rim click-classic reggae
Hey! I'm glad you guys enjoyed that. Yeah, Goldbrick, it's definitely more of a fusion thing than strict reggae, but it had that great roots vibe to it! Cool tidbit about the melodica... I too had wondered why it seemed to be so popular in Jamaican music. I love Agustus Pablo, and that whole album (second vid) is a CHOICE find! Thanks for sharing!
@RollingHarp: I'm not sure if you've come across this cool blog post on the harmonica in Jamaican Music, but if not, you should check it out. There is an hour-long podcast of some choice tracks you can download there... Very cool stuff... You should also check out a new album by Tom Walbank (he's a member here) called "Blues in Dub". There is some very cool reggae/dub stuff on that album, and I'd think you'll dig it...
I'll now submit, for your listening pleasure, a little dub track I recorded this morning. I'm calling it "DROP DUB" for now... Comments, critiques, etc. are welcome!
I've got some more reggae/dub/ska stuff uploaded to my soundcloud page (link is in my signature, below) if you want to check that out...
I have played harp with a couple of reggae bands in the past a Jersey band called No Discipline and a group from Baltimore called Jah Works and its a great instrument for reggae as the bands love it as well as the audience.When I first sat in with No D they,re 3 horn guys looked at me like "whats he gonna do with that little toy" well,after a note or two it was on.A big part of it though is like any music your playing,a connection,a knowledge and feel/love for it.I,m a blues player but have loved and listened to Reggae since the early 80,s and always knew that harp/reggae go well together.Stevie Wonder has played on a few cuts in the early 80,s with Third World,its really worth a listen.
Last Edited by on Feb 04, 2013 4:39 AM
This is a song called "Walkabout" from my first record:
It's drums, didgeridoo, heavily effected harmonica (using Richard Hunter's Digitech patches) and a guitar solo. I was a very different player then (no overblows) ... would love to re-record it.
@NiteCrawler: "A big part of it though is like any music your playing,a connection,a knowledge and feel/love for it."
I think you hit the nail on the head with that one. I do love Blues and really like to play it, but Reggae/Dub/Ska was one of my first loves in music, and I keep coming back there time and time again... I'll try to find those Stevie cuts, and look out for Third World too (although I think I might have heard of them, I can't remember if I have or not)... Thanks!
@scojo: That's some very cool stuff! Believe it or not, I actually play the Didj myself. I was way into it back in college (I was at a kind of Hippie school), and even took lessons and stuff. It's been awhile since I've really sat to play it, but I've still got a couple of Didj's lying around (they're in storage now)... I'd be really interested to hear a revamped version of that songs with overblows, etc. You might consider doing some overtoning too. I'll paste a video I made a couple of years back about how to make didjeridoo-like sounds on a harp using overtones... Cool stuff!
isaacullah: that's super-cool. I am going to watch these again later. I took a didge class (and the guy who taught it, Phil Jones, is the one playing on "Walkabout"). I took it mainly to learn circular breathing, but I really loved playing the didge... Didn't have the cash to buy my own, though.
